BERNARDS — A group tasked with finding solutions to traffic and safety complaints that have plagued residential neighborhoods near Ridge High School has set a date to hear the public's concerns.

Deputy Mayor Carolyn Gaziano said that although there is not much to report yet, the Ridge High Traffic Task Force did have its first meeting on Oct. 10 to set up their ground rules, the scope of its mission and its expectations.

The task force is comprised of Gaziano, John Carpenter from the township committee, township engineer Tom Timko, Bernards School District superintendent Nick Markarian, and school board president Susan McGowan.

Markarian said that the task force needs a little more time and will meet again on Oct. 22.

"Then we're going back to our board (of education) on the 29th," Markarian said. "And we hope to have a resolution that approves the joint task force."

He said that since the group is "pretty close to finishing," a tentative date of Nov. 5 has been set for a public hearing.

"We want to give the public plenty of time to share their concerns," Markarian said.

The district's website states that a change earlier this year that moved student unloading to a Cedar Hill School parking lot has had a "drastic improvement" in Ridge High's car line, but has also increased traffic through the nearby Homestead Village neighborhood.

Residents have complained at board meetings and in letters to the area newspapers since the change first occurred. A study commissioned by the board was released in June, but none of the alternate proposals have been enacted to date.

Former Ridge High PTO president Sarah Bonnefoi said in an e-mail to NJ.com that what she considers to be the best solution — paving the access route from the municipal complex to Ridge High for bus traffic — "will continue to be ignored" by the township committee.

She said the school board members are elected to work for the best interest of the schools, not the residents.